@L2K 

you sound like a Unifi expert, can you explain to me how you adopt an access point on a Unifi controller when you are at a remote site that does not have a Unifi router or controler. As I understand you, you just connect to the access points on the network and adopt, is that correct? and the access point knows by itself where the controller is?

on the site where the Unifi controller is installed there is also no port NAT if I have understood you correctly.

I manage about 130 Unifi sites myself, so if it can be made easier, I am interested in how it can be done.

my experience is that Omada and Unifi have a fairly similar way of adopting devices,

Sorry if there are any typing errors here, but I hope you understand anyway.
 

MR.S wrote

can you explain to me how you adopt an access point on a Unifi controller when you are at a remote site that does not have a Unifi router or controler. As I understand you, you just connect to the access points on the network and adopt, is that correct?

 

 

  @MR.S 

On a remote site I plug the AP in, open the Unifi app and the AP shows up for adoption. I click on the AP and adopt it, that's it. See the following screenshots of the process. https://imgur.com/a/3TR6M0w

Plug AP in on remote site, open Unifi app:

https://i.imgur.com/U9q7Foi.png

Click on AP and click "Adopt AP":

https://i.imgur.com/HX6pUDx.png

https://i.imgur.com/fKSff6W.png

https://i.imgur.com/CXVMkVb.png

Then after a couple of minutes the device is adopted and added to the site:

https://i.imgur.com/hCexJ8s.png

https://i.imgur.com/9qFSekI.png

No logging in, no configuring of the device manually. Took 10 minutes from plugging it in to having a fully working adopted AP on a remote site. With the Omada kit I have spent 4 or 5 days now and still not managed to adopt a single AP. There is no showing up of the APs in the devices lists in the sites in the Omada app and if you look under the local devices tab then clicking on an AP it seems to want you to manually configure it and nothing I do there seems to make it adopt. Really do feel Omada have dropped the ball here, can't believe no-one has mentioned this yet!

ok, I tried a new remote site without an existing AP, it didn't work. but if, on the other hand, you have a working Unifi AP that has been adopted for the controller within range, you can use the app. An empty and new site will not manage this.

the procedure on Unifi and Omada is quite similar, NAT in ports to the controller, use dhcp option 138, you can possibly enter the access point with http and write the ip to the controller, on Unifi you must use SSH and use the set-inform command if you do not have option 43 configured.

You should try and follow the manual that @Fae   gave you and it's also 5 minutes or less and adopt an Omada Access point. 

This is how Unifi explains how to do it on an Existing Network.

Mobile App (Existing Networks)
The UniFi Mobile App (Ios / Android) can streamline adoption if your network is already broadcasting WiFi on the same VLAN as the unadopted UniFi device.

Ensure the device has a solid white LED indicating it is in a factory deafult state.
Connect your mobile device to WiFi associated with the same VLAN as the unadopted device. If this isn't possible, refer to the SSH method below.
Open your UniFi Network Mobile App and connect to site you want to adopt your device.
Your device should appear for adoption in the device list.

Try this tool, then you can adopt 100 AP in 5 min  :-)

https://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/eap783/#Omada_Discovery_Utility

Unifi doesn't have such a great tool so Omada is better in many ways.

MR.S wrote

ok, I tried a new remote site without an existing AP, it didn't work. but if, on the other hand, you have a working Unifi AP that has been adopted for the controller within range, you can use the app. An empty and new site will not manage this.

  @MR.S 

Then you're doing something wrong, I used an empty site with no Unifi APs on it and a blank site in the app.

MR.S wrote

the procedure on Unifi and Omada is quite similar, NAT in ports to the controller, use dhcp option 138, you can possibly enter the access point with http and write the ip to the controller, on Unifi you must use SSH and use the set-inform command if you do not have option 43 configured.

No, it's not similar, as I have already shown. I do not (and often cannot) need to play with the DHCP server on site, and I do not need to log in to the device. Even with the Unifi method of using set-inform it is a simple case of SSHing in, with the Omada this is not possible and you need to log in to the web interface, thus changing the password which then means it can't be adopted as the password is no incorrect. The instructions say that it uses the default admin/admin but you cannot set the AP to admin/admin as it's insecure.

The whole thing is complicated and frankly impossible. I will stress yet again, the Unifi methiod simply works as I showed in the screenshots above and this is the exact method I have used on new and existing sites all remote from the controller. I just turn up, plug an AP in and adopt it. That's it. The Omada methods are complicated at best, if not impossible.

MR.S wrote

You should try and follow the manual that @Fae   gave you and it's also 5 minutes or less and adopt an Omada Access point. 

I did, but this guide is outdated and is a very longwinded way of doing it, especially when I can't do anything with DHCP options on site (e.g. a customers home with an ISP supplied router) and I cannot log in and set the controller URL as this changes the password which mean the AP cannot be adopted (the adoption fails). IT;';s all well and good providing links to guides and saying "this is how it works" but I am saying it doesn't.

MR.S wrote

This is how Unifi explains how to do it on an Existing Network.

Mobile App (Existing Networks)
The UniFi Mobile App (Ios / Android) can streamline adoption if your network is already broadcasting WiFi on the same VLAN as the unadopted UniFi device.

Ensure the device has a solid white LED indicating it is in a factory deafult state.
Connect your mobile device to WiFi associated with the same VLAN as the unadopted device. If this isn't possible, refer to the SSH method below.
Open your UniFi Network Mobile App and connect to site you want to adopt your device.
Your device should appear for adoption in the device list.

Which is exactly the process I described above, plug AP in, adopt AP. Done!

MR.S wrote

Try this tool, then you can adopt 100 AP in 5 min  :-)

 

https://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/eap783/#Omada_Discovery_Utility

So now I need to carry a Windows laptop around? Back to my original point, why make this so complicated? With the Unifi I just open the app and adopt the AP. It is clearly possible to do, and I'm not saying Omada should be just like Unifi but I see no reason why the Omada kit should make adoption so complicated.

Just to re-iterate, I have an AP that I have not yet managed to adopt, and using third party tools or reconfiguring the sites network is not a viable solution. I have a current workflow with Unifi and I cannot go backwards and spend more time adopting devices using other unnecessary tools to switch to Omada. What would be the point?

Fae wrote

Don't be upset. I showed the methods of how to adopt Omada devices remotely, but I'm not saying there will be no improvement in the future. 

  @Fae 

I hope that this will be looked at in the future. This looks to be a massive missing feature and I would think TP-Link would want this to be a high priority as.

And as for being "upset", well I am a bit as I have just spent £500 on Omada equipment for the lab to test out the features and so far have managed to achieve absolutely nothing and just have £500 worth of equipment sat here as paperweights.

Fae wrote

Tplink is working on free cloud based controllers like Festa. It's recommend to test Omada Cloud Based controller if you have time, there is a 30 days free trail.  You will know how easy to adopt all your devices through a cloud based controller, even more smoothly than Unifi. 

 

Any kindly feedback is much appreciated. 

Yes, well I just tried the Festa controller. Typed in my serial number and it said " The device is not in the Allow List. " but the EAP653/AX3000 AP that I entered the serial number of is in the list here; https://www.tp-link.com/uk/omada-cloud-based-controller/product-list/

As for the paid for version of the controller, I picked the self hosted version specifically for the fact that I didn't think I would have to pay to be able to add/manage devices to it, as per the Unifi.

MR.S wrote

Try this tool, then you can adopt 100 AP in 5 min  :-)

 

https://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/eap783/#Omada_Discovery_Utility

 

  @MR.S 

Well I've spent 30 mins on this and still can't this to even launch. A jar file? Assuming there's some dependency issue or something but nothing happens when I open it. This is absolutely ridiculous!

MR.S wrote

Unifi doesn't have such a great tool so Omada is better in many ways.

 

Haha, great tool indeed! Can't see how Omada can be better when I have still yet to actually adopt a single AP. I'm not saying Unifi is better or trying to start a Unifi/Omada war, I'm just saying this is how I do it currently, how do I do this with Omada and so far Omada has done nothing at all. I'm just perplexed.

  @L2K 

I see that it is not specifically described in the latest version, but you probably have to install this as described in the versions before-

  To run this software, you need to install JRE 8.0 on your PC first.

anyway i tested the latest version of omda discovery tool and it works perfectly but i have java installed.

otherwise, everything you need is in link that Fae sent you. the only thing that is new is port which is 29810-29816

moreover, it is strange that you have not tried to go into the access point and entered the control ip or name. it is the easiest thing to do when you are going to test in a lab.

it's all really quite simple but there are some preparations that need to be made. Omada is also not Unifi, so there is a slight difference between the two systems, but when you learn Omada you will see that there is not much difference in how to adopt a switch router or access point.

I've been doing Unifi and Omada for many years and I'm surprised at how similar many things are.